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Update 09.05.2020
V.1.31
-Fixes
KiddaC wrote
Over the last week I have been converting my xstreamity plugin to use the full API for data.
Currently my plugin uses the enigma2.php API. This is quick api and all data is easily readible in step by step format without having to hand code anything, but it is not perfect.
So here are some pros and cons of using the alternative full API.
Pros / For:
All xtream playlists should then be compatible as a handful of providers don't seem to have the enigma2 API I am using in this plugin.
EPG data should be more accurate. The current EPG tends to update by the hour which can show the wrong data , and some providers have got weird stuff going on with their start and end times getting confused.
I can bring in series info
I don't have to convert titles and descriptions from base64.
Cons / Against:
The data that is downloaded is larger, therefore potentianly slower
For the EPG data I have to download the full xmltv.php This is a big file. This is because servers have too many restrictions nowadays for downloading multiple files at once. This is a counter measure to prevent brute force attacks. But it makes displaying EPG data difficult.
With this large file, I then have to manually code and search this data to get the information for the now and next times.
I have to be careful I don't flood server providers with too many server calls otherwise that line is getting banned.
The above is the background of what I am doing. But at the moment I am working on 2 plugins simultaneously. The existing plugin(enigma2.php) and a new version of the plugin (player_api.php).
To make the plugins as similar as possible I have had to rewrite lots of my original plugin from scratch and use a different library ("Requests") to download data. The requests library allows none blocking multiple downloads and has built in json handling.
The reason I am rewriting the original is because I plan on just having one plugin in the end. The user then chooses which API they want to use.
I am only about 50% done at the moment. And there is no release yet of the full API version.
But below is where I am at with the original plugin conversion.
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Do note though, that I have stripped out lots of settings. There were far too many and was making things confusing for users. These now show as default.
Show Picons
Show Covers
Show Live Category
Show VOD Category
Show Series Category
Show Catch Up Category.
With this version there should be a speed improvement on the playlist screen for users that have more than one provider as I now download them all in parallel.
The playlist category page (live,vod,series,catchup) should also have a noticeable improvement after the first initial download as I now store these options.
Despite the fact I have rewrote huge chunks of this, at the moment you should see no change at all apart from the above mentioned speed improvements.
Please use the IPK to install - everything has changed including your stored data in the json files.